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Livonia's Cloverlanes bowling alley closing

It's the end of the 10th frame for one of Livonia's most iconic bowling facilities.

Cloverlanes, 28900 Schoolcraft, will shut down for good Saturday night after the final tournament takes place. It was decided several weeks ago by the owners that the business, which has been open since 1962, would shut down, said Rich Glomb, general manager of the facility.

"It's sad. It's a hard thing to do," said Glomb, who also is an owner of Merribowl on Five Mile in Livonia. "We're winding down the days."

The facility is expected to be sold to a developer, Glomb said. The property on which the bowling center sits saw increases in value after all the development on Middlebelt south of I-96 took place, Glomb said. It was after I-96 was reconstructed that the decision was made to sell the facility.

The closure means more than two dozen employees and 2,000 bowlers will be displaced from the unique double-dome facility. Glomb said he's worked hard to try and help the employees find work at other area bowling alleys and assist leagues with finding a new location to bowl. He said he's helped some find locations in Redford, Westland and Farmington Hills so their leagues can continue. Several leagues have also gone out on their own and found new homes.

"It's affecting a lot of people when a center like that closes down," he said. "I have several bowling centers in the area interested in our staff."

Final event Saturday

The facility is open today until midnight, though it could close earlier if there aren't any bowlers. The facility will also be open for open bowling from 5 p.m. to 1 a.m. Friday and from noon to roughly 5 p.m. Saturday.

Saturday evening is the final tournament at the facility, a nine-pin no tap tournament hosted by the Motor City Travelers with check-in beginning at 5 p.m. and the cutoff at 6:30 p.m. Entrance fees for the tournament will be $25 at the lanes Thursday, and $30 after.

More information about the tournament is available at the lanes.

Theresa McEwen, the group's bowling coordinator, said they went to the lanes a while back for a meeting about a possible tournament they wanted to hold this September. They arrived and were shocked to find out the lanes would close.

"We've been telling everybody we're going to try and fill the house on Saturday," the Oak Park resident said. "I'm hoping we can fill that out for them."

After the final tournament, a raffle drawing will take place to decide who will throw the final ball at the lanes, Glomb said.

"That raffle will be drawn almost immediately after the tournament concludes," said Glomb, who worked at the facility for 13 years. "Their will be just one ball thrown."

The facility has seen a lot of history, Glomb said, and it will be a tough thing to see it go. The bowling equipment is expected to be liquidated, and Glomb said several people with ties to the building are showing interest in purchasing things like the lanes.

"We had some amazing history in that facility and good history," he said. "The bowling world is losing a historic landmark come Sunday."